Faith Matters

Easter Is for Everybody - A Conversation with Amanda Suarez and Jon Ogden

Apr 16, 2025

Amanda Suarez, a school psychologist and conscious parenting coach, and Jon Ogden, a writer and author, co-founded Uplift Kids to help families explore spirituality and emotional health. They share a refreshing view of Easter, intertwining the resurrection story with chocolate bunnies and deep questions. Their approach honors each child's stage and invites diverse family beliefs, promoting open dialogue and connection. Through relatable analogies, they emphasize hope and transformation, encouraging families to embrace all layers of the Easter narrative.

53:23

Episode guests

Amanda Suarez

Jon Ogden

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Adopting a harmony approach to Easter allows families to embrace diverse beliefs and engage in meaningful conversations across different developmental stages.

Incorporating both joyful traditions and profound spiritual themes during Easter fosters deeper connections and enriches the overall family experience.

Deep dives

The Harmony Approach to Easter

Adopting a harmony approach to Easter means embracing the richness of diverse beliefs within families, allowing each person to express their understanding of the holiday. This framework recognizes that children and adults engage with the Easter story differently, reflecting their unique stages of development and faith. For younger children, concrete and simple activities can facilitate connection, while older children may benefit from deeper, more abstract conversations. By fostering an environment where all perspectives can coexist, families can enhance their relationships and cultivate a more enriching Easter experience.

Intro

2min

Embracing Harmony in Easter Celebrations

20min

Transformative Spiritual Analogies

4min

Navigating Conversations with Teenagers: Embracing Growth and Independence

2min

The Power of Hope in Communication and Resurrection

3min

Nurturing Connections: Parenting through Dialogue

19min

Embracing Transformation Through Easter's Lessons

3min

With Easter just a few days away, we’re so excited to share this conversation with Amanda Suarez and Jon Ogden.

Amanda and Jon are two of the co-founders of Uplift Kids, a lesson library and curriculum that helps families explore spirituality, values, and emotional health together. Amanda is a school psychologist and certified conscious parenting coach, and Jon is a writer, curriculum creator, and author of When Mormons Doubt.

In this conversation, Amanda and Jon offer a beautiful vision of Easter through the lens of what Brian McLaren calls the “harmony” stage of faith—a perspective they also bring to their work with Uplift Kids. They paint a picture of Easter made more meaningful—not less—by welcoming it all: the story of Jesus’ resurrection, the chocolate bunnies, the deep questions, and the simple joy.

It’s an approach that honors the unique developmental stage of each child and the evolving faith of each adult, making room for everyone to show up just as they are. And for many families gathering this time of year, that kind of spaciousness matters—especially when there are likely a variety of beliefs around the table and a wide range of needs, from toddlers to teens to adults.

Rather than avoiding depth or walking on eggshells around belief, Amanda and Jon invite us to embrace the richness that comes from letting all the layers belong. That richness can become an opening—for deeper connection, for real growth, and for the kind of transformation that Easter is all about.

At its heart, this conversation invites us to let go of pressure and agendas, to lean into love and presence, and to trust that what’s needed will rise naturally in its own time. Easter, after all, is a story of life, death and rebirth—and that same pattern is quietly at work in our lives and families too.

We hope this conversation fills you with the peace this Easter season brings and with that, here’s our conversation with Amanda Suarez and Jon Ogden.

https://upliftkids.org/

When Mormons Doubt

Bookshop affiliate link: https://bookshop.org/a/108982/9781535350372